Jessica Ennis-Hill: I'll defend my title in London and then retire

Jessica Ennis-Hill today hinted she could bring down the curtain on her illustrious career in London.

The new heptathlon world champion, who won a remarkable gold here in Beijing yesterday just 13 months after giving birth, has set her sights on defending her Olympic title in Rio de Janeiro next year.

Ennis-Hill previously suggested she would retire after those Games but today opened up the possibility of extending her career so she could bow out in the capital.

“I’ve not thought past Rio but the next World Championships are in London so that would be spectacular,” said the 29-year-old. “My mind and energy is focused on Rio and I’ll see what happens after that.”

Ennis-Hill struggled on her return to training following her son Reggie’s birth last July, barely able to lift 20kg in her early training sessions. Her return was curtailed by injuries to both Achilles tendons and she only made the decision to compete in Beijing at the last minute.

Celebrating with a single beer in the team hotel after her gold, she weighed up her prospects for

Rio, where team-mate Katarina Johnson-Thompson will have a point to prove after her medal hopes ended here with three fouls in the long jump.

Ennis-Hill, who won with 6,669 points, said: “I was happy to come here, gain experience and put myself back onto the world stage. It’s my first time at a proper championships since the Olympics. It’s a good platform to go into next year but it’s going to be really rough next year. The event is moving on and getting stronger. To score 6,600 or 6,700 will hopefully get you a medal but I don’t know what it will take to win gold next year.”

Meanwhile, drugs cheat Justin Gatlin is refusing to speak to the BBC and the rest of the British media for the rest of these championships because he claims he has been unfairly portrayed.

Usain Bolt’s victory over Gatlin in the final of the 100m yesterday was globally hailed as triumph for the sport in the wake of the widespread doping allegations, which have rocked athletics.

But the American’s agent Renaldo Nehemiah told the Guardian: “Justin, as well as I, feel that the British media and journalists have been extremely unkind to him. There’s been nothing positive said about him now for some time. Every characterisation is solely about doping and vilifying him.

“So, to maintain his own dignity and self respect, he feels it best not to speak to them. It’s very unfortunate but he’s been hurt tremendously by these attacks. And as humans, we should be better than that. The BBC in particular should report without lacing their reporting with biased views.”